Mambo: History Of Latin Dance

When it comes to Mambo, the history of this dance is similar to other Latin dances. Like the Cha Cha, Rumba and Salsa, the Mambo is based in many different cultures, and the rhythms and steps have never grown stale.

Colonization And Latin Dance

Although many people would trace Mambo, Cha Cha and Salsa back to Cuba exclusively, the origins are much more complicated than that. Cuban band leaders helped popularize the music and brought it to New York and other metropolitan areas throughout the early to mid 20th century, but the roots of Latin music and the dances that went with it go back even further.

In the 19th century, music went through an exciting transformation in Cuba. During this time, Cuba was the cultural center of the Latin world. It was one of Spain's colonies and the richest one in the area by far. French and Spanish plantation owners flooded into the area and brought their slaves, who introduced the native people to West African music.

New Dance Forms Emerge

At the beginning of the 19th century, slaves merged their traditional music with the Spanish and French music that was already in the area. The homogenized music and dance was called "Danzon," which later split into the Mambo, the Cha Cha, the Rumba and Salsa dancing.

In the mid 1930s, Orestes Lopez created a version of the danzon that he named "Mambo." He combined the danzon with African street rhythms. The accompanying dance to the music was developed from studio dancers experimenting with the new beats and figuring out the best ways to move to the music. Mambo music and dancing was popularized with Perez Prado on his American tour with his band.

After the Mambo was developed, further experimentation resulted in the Cha Cha, which was a mixture of the Cuban Danzon and the Puerto Rican Danzonette. The Cha Cha style of music was characterized by singers singing in unison. The Salsa was also derived from the same basic beats, but it is much faster and more up tempo than its other Latin Dance cousins.

By learning a little about the history of Latin dance, you can understand how the movements developed. Although we think of these dances as permanent, they changed constantly and continue to evolve.

By: Courtney Ramirez